7 th May 2015 and beyond… Five themes for HE in this parliament Andy Westwood May 2015

… the story of GE2015 (the polls, exit poll & the result)

1) Regulatory uncertainty (and legislative difficulty…)

House of Commons vs House of Lords…?

What kind of Parliament? Still a weak government (majority of ) Messy, hand to mouth… Problems with House of Lords (no Conservative majority makes legislation problematic) Difficult backbenches especially over EU and ‘English’ issues Favours rebels, ‘pork barrel’ politics, deals Not good setting for decision making, legislation

Back to 2003/4 Labour majority under Blair of 100+ seats and much less pressure on public finances HE legislation for top up fees finished (after compromises with Labour left) with OFFA and a review of the impact of fees (which became Browne…) Most difficult moment for Blair? "nearest I came to losing my job as PM was not over policies of war and peace, but over education reforms."

2) Financial uncertainty (or worse, certainty?) ‘There is no money…’

First 1-2 years? Early Budget? Spending Review (autumn?) Postgraduate loans scheme Nurse Review outcome

3) Productivity and Growth (and role of HE and science) ‘We will devolve far-reaching powers over economic development, transport and social care to large cities with elected mayors. We will legislate to deliver historic deal for Greater Manchester.’ Rebalancing economy, focus on place, devolution, public sector reform Rebalancing HE & skills provision - increased interest in HVE (National Colleges, Degree Apprenticeships etc) Science: applied research, innovation, place, research partnership…

4) Micro versus Macro (economic evidence)? Push for micro - not macro - economic evidence eg focus on teaching, learning gain, institutional and course RAB charges, micro level science/research impact Universities and Science as key drivers of economic growth – jobs, earnings, innovation and productivity. Has helped HE through last five years – science protected, higher fees, student numbers uncapped… The less good news is that more measures, more data, more strings, more levers will be needed to prove it and to actually make it happen.

Conservative Manifesto Continue to invest in science, back our industrial strategies and make Britain the technology centre of Europe Nurse Review of research councils, to ensure UK continues to support world-leading science Create new institutions such as Health North; Royce Institute for Advanced Materials in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield; Invest new capital: £6.9 billion to 2021: including £2.9 billion ‘Grand Challenges Fund’ Support modern industrial strategies eg Life Sciences, Automotive Council & ‘Eight Great Technologies’ inc robotics & nanotechnology Expand catapult centres – R&D hubs in technologies of future Grow University Enterprise Zones, universities to make money from technology they develop.

5) The ‘Global Race’ or ‘Little Britain’? Renewed immigration targets EU ‘Brexit’…? Or the UK winning (or at least doing better) in the ‘Global Race’, investing in science, technology, world leading research, sectors and businesses? Or politics vs economics? (In possibly even Theresa May vs George Osborne?

Osborne (and the economy) wins…?